Memorial Day (Non)Memories

Every Memorial Day, I find myself musing about a man I never met. He was my husband’s uncle, but Michael never met him either.

This would-have-been uncle-in-law died while fighting in the Pacific Theater sometime during World War II. The man I’ve only heard about was referred to as “June” by my late father-in-law and his siblings; Michael assumes that less-than-masculine nickname was a shortened form of Claude Ditmore Jr., but he’s not totally sure.

The family gravesite includes a marker but never held a body.

I’ve never learned a lot about June’s death, other than he was officially declared missing in action when his plane was shot down somewhere in the Pacific theater. No body was ever recovered for his heartbroken parents to bury. After the war, a veteran from a neighboring town reportedly visited the family and claimed he had seen June’s body on a beach during a fierce battle. He told the family to abandon all hope that June would ever come home, that he was definitely dead even if the U. S. military could not account for him.

Recently, Michael did a little more digging through military records and histories and found that his uncle was reported missing in action over the Island of Leyte in November 1944 and officially declared dead in November 1945. The records hint June was on a transport plane carrying troops either to or from an R&R leave, but the plane apparently crashed and no wreckage was ever found. He was 21 years old when his plane went down.

Fading from View

I’m not sure anyone who ever knew June is still alive. His parents and siblings are all dead. He didn’t live long enough to marry or have kids of his own. He never knew any of his nieces and nephews or their families. If any friends from his childhood have survived, they would be nearing 100 and might have trouble recalling anything about the boy who died more than 75 years ago.

When our two sons were younger, we stopped off a couple of times in Bronte, Texas, to make sure they saw June’s name on the war memorial that stands in the center of town. That is about all we can give to them of this long-lost relative. We don’t tell stories of June’s heroism because we simply don’t know any. We don’t make June into a larger-than-life figure because we wouldn’t know how to do that. But we don’t want our sons to forget that a close family member paid the ultimate price in a war that changed the world forever.

War memorial in Bronte, Texas, includes names of Michael’s father, uncle and grandfather.

Remembrance in Place of Memories

I sometimes wonder how my husband’s life and the family that we have built might have been different if June had lived. Maybe June would have had a son who would have been my husband’s best childhood cousin/friend and who would have stood as Michael’s best man in our wedding. Maybe June would have had half a dozen sons and daughters and maybe we would have spent vacations visiting some of those cousins and their families. Our kids would have played with their kids and we would have enjoyed all the jokes and anecdotes that families share.

But there are no cousins to visit, no family memories to share. The details of June’s brief life have been mostly lost with the deaths of his brothers and sister. A name on a faded memorial remains. And I am grateful for that memorial and for a day set aside to help me remember this man I never knew. And to honor the many men like June who fought and died so young that they left behind little more than a legacy of service and sacrifice.

May 30, 2011

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2 Comments

  1. Tammy,
    Thank you for this lovely piece! I was talking to Chris yesterday about his uncle, Charles, who was also killed in the Pacific Theater. He was 18 or 19, the baby of the 4 boys, musical, as were the others. He is buried in Punch Bowl in Hawaii, and I, too, wonder about what he was like and his influence on our girls’ lives had he survived. How similar was he to his brothers and how much of a “family man” would he have been? I appreciate your putting into words some of the thoughts swirling in my head.
    Sandy

  2. Not having any relatives I know of who fought in WW2 I confess I have a much greater appreciation for your uncle-in-law’s and WW2 soldiers’ sacrifices, especially those who fought in the Pacific Theater, after reading Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. I love the sincerity and honesty of your post, that you have managed to weave him into your own family’s story, and that your telling of June’s story gives voice to the thousands of other soldiers who died like him. The lack of specific accounts of heroism doesn’t make him any less a hero. That he fought in World War II and helped change the course of history alone make him larger-than-life in my book. Great post , Tammy!